After fights and disagreements, the G20 Cultural Working Group adopted the KwaDukuza Declaration on Culture.

Sport, Arts and Culture Minister Gayton McKenzie said: “Through this declaration, we reaffirm our shared belief that culture is not merely a sector, but a driver of transformation, innovation, and social cohesion. Our collective vision is to ensure that culture and creativity remain central to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.”

McKenzie thanked delegates in his concluding remarks during the adoption of the ministerial declaration. 

“The fact that at 5am, 4.30am, people were still negotiating and learning from each other and debating speaks to the seriousness of bringing out a document that will serve generations,” McKenzie said. 

“In this moment, I would like us to clap for ourselves. We clap for everyone because we are adopting this KwaDukuza Declaration. Thank you, thank you, thank you.” 

Speaking on the sidelines, before the start of bilateral meetings, McKenzie said he is “over the moon” that the Cultural Working Group managed to get over the line. 

“This wasn’t easy. I mean, the fact that I set my watch every hour after midnight to ask the guys, ‘Did you reach consensus?’ One o’clock, no. Two o’clock, no. Three o’clock, no. Five o’clock, no. Half past five, I get a call from them. ‘We did it’. 

“I jumped out of bed and I was doing a Zulu dance there,” McKenzie said, dancing. “I was so happy.” 

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He said this is great for South Africa and the continent. 

McKenzie stated that serious questions were asked. 

For instance, a child in KwaMashu has the same content as a child in Philadelphia, but the one in Philadelphia gets paid and not the one in KwaMashu. He asked what the difference is when they are using the same app and putting in the same effort. 

Another example the minister gave was around the return of artefacts stolen years ago. 

“The world will be a better place because of this declaration,” McKenzie said. 

He said Wednesday was about making solidarity, equality, and sustainability a policy. 

“We can talk, but we wanted our ideas and the ideas of like-minded countries like Brazil to become policy,” McKenzie said. “What we’ve agreed here is now becoming policy in the world. It will be referred to as the KwaDukuza Declaration.” 

McKenzie said that when people speak, whether they are in Saudi Arabia, Spain, or Norway, they will refer to the KwaDukuza Declaration. 

“That makes me very, very happy,” McKenzie said. “We will now make sure that all that we spoke about here must come down to the normal day-to-day lives of our people.” 

Reflecting on the deliberations, McKenzie said: “Well, you know what happened? I can tell you lots of fights, lots of disagreements. But at the end of the day, an agreement was reached, 5.30 this morning.” 

The minister said it is a year of work. 

African Union representative Angela Martins said: “We are really very happy and excited to see the endorsement of the KwaDukuza Declaration on Culture. 

“We believe this is a very strong declaration which reflects almost all areas of culture and more specifically the four priorities that South Africa set for their presidency.” 

Martins anticipates that the G20, through this declaration and previous ones, will collaborate on projects and partnerships to translate commitments into actions.

The ultimate goal is to positively impact cultural workers and artists globally.

As guiding principles, the declaration prioritises:

• Safeguarding and restitution of cultural heritage.
• Integrating cultural policies with socio-economic strategies to ensure holistic and inclusive development.
• Harnessing digital technologies to protect and promote culture and sustainable economies.
• Intersection of culture and climate change to shape global responses.

thobeka.ngema@inl.co.za

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